Through the Lens of History. Mini Exhibits from the Yad Vashem Collections

The Anguish of Liberation and the Return to Life

The Anguish of Liberation

Yad Vashem Photo Archives, 1644/109

Survivors of the Kielce pogrom await their transfer out of Poland – Kielce, Poland, summer of 1946

On July 4th, 1946, a brutal pogrom was perpetrated in the town of Kielce, Poland. The local population feared that the few Jews who had survived the Holocaust and returned home would demand their belongings back. They therefore disseminated a rumor that Jews had murdered Christian children and drunk their blood. The pogrom took place in broad daylight, and in view of the local police force. (Some say they even participated). 42 Jews were murdered. Following the pogrom, hundreds of thousands of Jews emigrated from Poland and other countries in eastern and central Europe.